The present invention relates generally to connecting connectors to coaxial cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to an installation tool for connecting a coaxial cable to a connector.
It has long been known to use connectors to terminate coaxial cable so as to connect a cable to various electronic devices such as televisions, radios and the like. Prior art coaxial connectors generally include a connector body having an annular collar for accommodating a coaxial cable, an annular nut rotatably coupled to the collar for providing mechanical attachment of the connector to an external device and an annular post interposed between the collar and the nut. A resilient sealing O-ring may also be positioned between the collar and the nut at the rotatable juncture thereof to provide a water resistant seal thereat. The collar includes a cable receiving end for insertably receiving an inserted coaxial cable and, at the opposite end of the connector body, the nut includes an internally threaded end extent permitting screw threaded attachment of the body to an external device.
This type of coaxial connector further typically includes a locking sleeve to secure the cable within the body of the coaxial connector. The locking sleeve, which is typically formed of a resilient plastic, is securable to the connector body to secure the coaxial connector thereto. In this regard, the connector body typically includes some form of structure to cooperatively engage the locking sleeve. Such structure may include one or more recesses or detents formed on an inner annular surface of the connector body, which engages cooperating structure formed on an outer surface of the sleeve. A coaxial cable connector of this type is shown and described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,807.
Conventional coaxial cables typically include a center conductor surrounded by an insulator. A conductive foil is disposed over the insulator and a braided conductive shield surrounds the foil covered insulator. An outer insulative jacket surrounds the shield. In order to prepare the coaxial cable for termination, the outer jacket is stripped back exposing an extent of the braided conductive shield which is folded back over the jacket. A portion of the insulator covered by the conductive foil extends outwardly from the jacket and an extent of the center conductor extends outwardly from within the insulator.
Upon attachment with a connector, a coaxial cable is inserted into the cable receiving end of the connector body, wherein the annular post is forced between the foil covered insulator and the conductive shield of the cable. In this regard, the post is typically provided with a radially enlarged barb to facilitate expansion of the cable jacket. The locking sleeve is then moved axially into the connector body to clamp the cable jacket against the post barb providing both cable retention and a water-tight seal around the cable jacket. The connector can then be attached to an external device by tightening the internally threaded nut to an externally threaded terminal or port of the external device.
Various installation tools to facilitate the assembly of a coaxial cable to a connector are known in the art. Commonly used prior art installation tools are typically hand-held devices resembling pliers that provide the necessary force for driving the locking sleeve in order to lock the cable to the connector. When the handles of such tools are squeezed together, a jaw mechanism of the tool typically pushes or inserts the locking sleeve of the connector into the connector body to secure the cable in the connector. However, this requires prior manual insertion of a prepared end of the cable into engagement with the tubular post contained within the connector body. Since the post expands the coaxial cable braid, some level of force is required on the part of the installer in order to fully insert the cable to its proper position within the connector body for proper connector compression/installation. Also, ensuring that the cable is inserted the precise required distance into the connector is further problematic with such manual assembly.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an installation tool that simplifies the coaxial cable to connector assembly process. It is further desirable to provide a cable installation tool that exerts the necessary forces to both install the cable an exact distance into the connector and also to compress the locking sleeve in one application.